Christmas in Wisconsin
by ghostlyandcoastly
Summary: Donna convinces Josh to come home with her for Christmas. Josh is a reluctant participant but not for the reason Donna thinks.
1. Day Zero

Donna:

It has been one of those days. I'm at the end of my rope with Josh and he's at the end of his with me. The day hadn't began like that. Of course, they usually never do. The day had actually been great at first. I had only had to call Josh once to wake him up and he got me a bagel from my favorite place on his way in. I had the files ready for him before he asked for them and I had managed to get him out of a meeting he didn't want or need to take. The bad part started when he was late for senior staff. Which was definitely not my fault. I can walk and talk with the best of them! It's not my fault Josh pulled me into his office to continue our debate on state versus federal taxes.

After the meeting he was pretty sour, taking the meeting out on poor little me at which point I _accidentally_ forgot to tell them to leave off the pickles on his sandwich at lunch. We both knew I did it on purpose. Josh _really_ hates pickles. I knew I was in trouble when all I heard from his office was "OH, game on sister!"

I found out about twenty minutes later that I couldn't find my gum and when I went to buy some from the vending machine it was sold out. I didn't think much of it until Josh kept making peppermint puns. He had bought all of my favorite gum not only from the closest vending machine but from the convenience store a block away. He's a madman!

I told him as much but my mistake had been not realising when I did so that he was on a conference call with the Secretary of the Treasury. Whoops. Then somehow we got back into the tax debate and he insulted my intelligence re: being from Wisconsin and I made a comment about his receding hairline.

We haven't spoken very much in the last hour of work.

But it's Thursday. And we always get drinks on Thursdays with CJ and Sam and Toby and a couple others who tag along every once in a while. For some reason, I feel nervous. It's not like we haven't had disagreements or bad days or done petty pranks to each other before. But something about Josh in the past few hours has seemed off.

"Hey, you and the idiot boy ready to go?" CJ asked. She'd already changed into jeans and a cute tank/jacket combo.

"I heard that!" Josh bellowed. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm just going to finish polishing up these notes and then go change and I'll be ready." I told CJ- and Josh as well, I knew he'd be listening.

"Leave em. Go get changed." Josh said, pulling his tie off and shrugging off his jacket as he came out of his office. Out of habit, I retrieved the tie and jacket from the floor of his office and hung them on the hanger in his officer.

"Trust me, you want me to polish these up." I say, sitting back down at the desk.

"Donna, for Christ's sake, I just wanna get a drink so let's go!" Josh's outburst was accompanied by him grabbing my bag from his office and tossing it to me.

"What's up your ass, Lyman?" CJ asked. Josh reached up and hit the door frame of his office.

"We ready?" Sam said jovially, not reading the room.

"If Donna would get _a move on.._ "

"Joshua! You can go without me! CJ will wait with me! Go with Sam."

"Wait, seems like I'm getting the short end of the straw. I'll wait, CJ you can go with Josh." Sam said, picking up on the situation.

"No way, spanky! I get Donna, woman's prerogative." CJ replied. I smiled at Josh.

"We're all just gonna sit here and wait on Donna then!" Josh snapped.

"You're a real charmer, Josh." I told him rolling my eyes as I pushed him out of his office so I could change.

"I know, you'd think you'd invite me in ther-" I cut him off by shutting the door. Before I changed, I grabbed several sticky notes, writing "you're a dick" and hid them in places only Josh would see them tomorrow.

"Jesus, were you re painting the Mona Lisa from scratch in there? What took you so long?" Josh sniped as I came out. _You'll know soon enough, Lyman._

Once at the bar with a drink in him, Josh seems to be getting along with everyone just fine again. Including me. He told me to check my purse and when I did, I found several packs of my favorite gum in there. I took this as his apology. I squeezed his knee and went to grab him another whiskey sour for my apology.

I knew something was off though. I thought I was just being overly suspicious but while waiting at the bar for our second round, I checked my voicemail. I had a message from Josh's mother.

"Hey Donna. This is Melanie. I just wanted to call and thank you for having Josh next weekend. Tell your folks how much I appreciate it. I was worried sick about it and well, now, I'll just miss him a little. If I don't talk to you before then, happy holidays!"

I squinted my eyes and listened to the message again. It didn't make any sense. Next weekend would be Christmas. I'm going back home for the week to Wisconsin for the annual Moss family hoorah while Josh would be going to West Palm Beach to celebrate with his mom for a few days of Hanukkah before going to Miami for some annual Democratic fundraiser thing. At least that's what has happened the past three years that we've known one another.

I thank the bartender for the drinks, letting her know we'll close our tabs soon. I don't go back to the table where we're all huddled. I catch Josh's eyes and signal him to meet me at a table near the back. He looks puzzled but I raise the drink and he shrugs.

Is this the wrong moment to appreciate how gorgeous he is? His top few buttons are undone and I can see a little bit of his chest hair. His hair is messy from a stressful day and his eyes bright from finally letting the tension out of his shoulders. Or at least some of it. _Focus, Donnatella._

"Donna?" He asks when he's close enough. It's not very loud in this part of the bar so we can have a normal volume conversation.

"Josh… why did your mom call me telling me to thank my folks?" I ask him. His expression goes from lighthearted to busted pretty quick. I don't like causing that change.

"Listen, Donna…"

"Don't Listen Donna me. You only do that when you're going to blow me off." I accuse him.

"I don't blow you off!"

"Yes, you do, Joshua. Anyways, that's not what's relevant."

"And what is? And are you going to drink both of those yourself?" Josh asks, gesturing to both our drinks in my hands. I purse my lips and toss back the remainder of my wine- which is more than a bit. My two years at college taught me well. He looks thrown. I smirk and bring the whiskey sour up to my lips. He grabs the glass. His large hand covering mine should not be as much of a turn on as it is. "You hate whiskey. Also. Mine."

"Josh, just tell me what's going on!?" I ask him, giving him his drink. I watch him take a sip, clearly stalling. I don't mind too much because it gives me an excuse to stare at his lips.

"You're going to make a bigger deal out of this than it is. My mom is going to Oregon this year with her new _boyfriend_ and it's fine. And Leo wants to send Bruno and his guys to the DNC thing instead. It's no big deal- don't look at me like that. It's just my mom was really worried about me so I don't why but I told her I was going with you to your family's ho down or whatever." He takes another long sip.

"Josh… Why didn't you just ask me?" For some reason, this doesn't seem to be the response he was expecting.

"Donna, I'm not going to impose on your family like that. Besides, it's a little weird, bringing your boss home to meet the whole family and farm." I don't bother with his farm comment.

I just dial my phone. He's looking at me suspiciously.

"Hi Mom!" Josh groans, tossing his head back. "I'm excited to see you too. Hey, you don't mind if Josh comes too, right?" Josh has started to bang his head on the high top. I pat his head just a tad condescendingly. "Great! I'll be sure to tell him!" He glares up at me.

"Donna… please for the love of my sanity!"

"Kath will be making the sweet potato casserole you love so much." His eyes light up then he takes a second and I can see him formulating his debate strategy.

"Really. I shouldn't. I doubt there are even flights…" Josh trails off. "And I was going to stay and catch up on work then watch the game with Toby."

"First of all, there are flights. There's always flights. It's Wisconsin. And second, Toby is going to Andy's family so let's not pretend you were going to do anything but sit on your ass drinking a beer and obsessing over not being able to reach any members of congress for at least a few days."

I can tell Josh knows he's been caught. I can tell he's reluctant. I can also tell that I'm apparently thirteen because I'm bringing someone home to meet my family and this time he's great man who I'm completely in love with! Who also happens to be my boss and sees me as his best pal. And for some reason, I, Donna Moss, an independent woman in her mid thirties, who works for the President of the United States, has butterflies.


	2. Day One

**AN yall might need this list to keep up I gave Donna a big fam a lam**

 _Kath: mom_

 _Eddie: step dad_

 _Lisa: oldest sister_

 _Brody: husband_

 _Nikki: teen daughter_

 _Tanner: eleven yr old son_

 _Rebecca: older sister_

 _Matt: third husband_

 _Bailey: teen daughter_

 _Duke: older brother_

 _Nancy: wife_

 _Isiah: twelve yr old son_

 _Julia: twin daughter_

 _Jojo: twin daughter_

 _Max: younger son_

 _Caleb: older brother_

 _Eileen: wife_

 _Holly: daughter_

 _Ashton: son_

 _Colton: older brother_

 _Eva: wife_

 _Emmie: toddler daughter_

 _Ollie: baby son_

I'm in a bad mood. Donna is in full nagging mother mode. Apparently I'm in prime Joshua sarcastic ass mode. Not my fault she can't keep up with my astounding humor and wit just because it's six. Thirty. In. the. Morning!

Donna met me at my place at five and I'm not sure which one of us started it but before we got out the door we were both a little red in the face.

"Josh. Stop bouncing your leg." Donna snaps.

"How long have you been holding on to that for?" I quip. She rolls her eyes. "What even is taking so long? That plane pulled in there like forty five minutes ago." I made a conscious effort the keep my knee from bouncing but not such an effort to keep my voice down. One of the Delta attendants at the desk gave me a look.

"It's been like twenty and you're gonna give yourself a conniption." Donna informed me, digging through her purse. She tossed me a granola bar. I actually was hungry. The breakfast sandwich we got from the airport Starbucks was not nearly enough.

"Thanks, got a coloring book in there for me too?" I probably should have just thanked her. Truly I was grateful. Donna's thoughtfulness made her the best person to travel with. But I've been on edge since these plans were set in motion.

I've met Donna's family here and there. Her parents, of course, we've met on multiple occasions. One of her brothers and I went to baseball game once when he was in town. Another time I had driven with Donna to go meet her newborn niece in Pennsylvania a few years ago. It had been a day when Donna had woken up early and got to sleep late the night before and I didn't want her driving there all by herself.

But _this_ is all at once. And Donna has _a lot_ of family to keep track of. And… I'm one hundred percent sure they're going to sniff out the fact that I'm hopelessly in love with Donna.

I've known in the back of my mind since Rosslyn that I have more than platonic feelings for her. But I've been busy. I'm an important man. I've kept myself distracted and covered when I wasn't. Or at least I thought I did.

Amy and I's fling came to an end when she flew off the rails one morning when I called Donna before I even had completely left the bathroom. She made me realize some hard truths. Apparently I have a terrible poker face when it comes to Donna.

But Amy wasn't the only one to dig the knife in a little deeper recently. I had told Toby about my Christmas Plan A and told him what I had told my mom. I tried to brush it off but he pressed me on it. Told me I needed to do something about my feelings or move on. So moving on the plan was. I went out on a date! The girl was boring.

But the moving on plans have been put on hold because DONNA MOSS IS A CRAZY WOMAN WHO JUST CALLED HER MOTHER ON A WHIM TELLING HER I'D BE ATTENDING THEIR PRECIOUS CHRISTMAS FAMILY TIME.

"Earth to Josh?" Donna waves her hand in front of my face.

"Uh, yeah?" I responded, using all my clever and humorous wit.

"They're going to start boarding soon. You should use the restroom now and then we'll trade off so someone can stay with the bags." Donna laid out her plan. I stood up, brushing the granola crumbs off me. I grabbed her coffee cup and muffin wrapper on my way off to the restroom. She mumbled her thanks as I left.

When I got back, Donna was talking to some gomer in a business suit and gelled hair. I knew her flirt face. I decided to have a little fun with Suit Boy.

"Hi, dear. Hope I didn't keep you and junior waiting too long." I put my arm around her while using my other one to pat her stomach. Okay, maybe this was more at Donna's expense than Gel Wuss. (I need to get better with the nicknames- Dr. Freeride was when I was really on my game). Apparently my little stunt stunned Donna a bit because she didn't say anything but was bright red. Arguably the most adorable thing anyone has ever seen.

"Oh, hey. I was just talking to your, um, wife here. I'm Finn." He stuck out his hand. I shook it- more firm than necessary. "It was nice talking to you Donna." He said before scurrying his way over to the furthest side of the gate. The second his back was turned, three things happened in pretty rapid succession. I let go of Donna, my face bursted out into what I'm pretty sure was a very obnoxious smirk, and Donna smacked me upside the head.

"What the hell, Josh!" She hissed. I was still grinning.

"You were the one flirting." I shot back. Because again I am a very clever and witty man.

"Joshua Peter Lyman! If you ever lay your hand on my stomach again without my express consent to do so, I will call be calling Melanie and paying for her plane ticket to come castrate you." I'm pretty sure my complexion paled.

"... Can we truce?" I asked in a voice that I know for a fact was very low pitched and manly and _definitely_ not a squeak. I do know that it made Donna smile and the temporary hit to my masculinity was worth it tenfold.

She agreed and it wasn't too much longer that we were in our seats toward the back of the plane. I had offered Donna the aisle but my legs were very grateful when she said she didn't mind. The woman in the window seat was a twenty something in yoga pants who immediately put on headphones and stared dead eyed straight forward.

"I didn't know Wednesday Adams wore athleisure." I whispered to Donna. She tried pretty hard not to giggle. Which bumped her blushing face from the number one cute thing to number two.

About an hour into the flight, Donna and I had completed all the work we could do while in the air and I was going to sneak in a nap when Donna interceded.

"Hey, Joooosh." She said in a lovely way that made me suspicious. I eyed her. "Remember what you said about me bringing coloring books to occupy our time?"

"That's not exactly what I said but I can't imagine you brought some Tom the Train coloring books for us and not your nephews."

"One, it's Thomas the Tank Engine. Two, my nephews _and_ nieces thank you. Glad to have you on the Democrats side. Three, I did not bring coloring books for us but I did bring flashcards." She pulled out some brightly colored flash cards.

"What on earth for?" I was admittedly curious. I wasn't going to admit it but I kinda miss studying.

"A crash course on who's who in the Moss family." She smiled. I opened my tray table again just to bang my head against it. "Joshua, you really should have gone into acting. You have a flare for the dramatics."

"Yeah, yeah. Tell me about these cheeseheads." I elbowed her playfully.

"Okay…"

Twenty minutes later, Donna was quizzing me by showing the front of the flash card with the name on it and then I'd list off the relevant facts that were on the back of the card. It was honestly sweet that she went to all this trouble for me.

"Kath, your mother, of course. She's a very kind woman. I think we can skip this one- We've skyped her together several times." Donna nodded, satisfied.

"Brody… your oldest sister's husband. Lisa's. They have two kids. Nicole who likes to be called Nikki and Tanning Bed."

"Tanner but nice." Donna moved on to the next one.

"Bailey- Rebecca's daughter. Rebecca is your sister and she's married to Matt. Bailey loves something called Runescape and is very shy." Next. I'm just too good.

"Nancy. Duke's wife. They have like fourteen kids?"

"Four."

"Yeah, yeah. Julia and Jojo are twins- Max is the youngest and he's the trouble maker..." I trail off, forgetting the fourth. "Wait- don't say it. I know it." Donna is patient but I just can't remember the kids stupid name! "He's thirteen… he tried to get you to let him take a sip of your beer last year… Isiah! Who da man!?"

"You da man, Josh." Donna is still smiling at me. My motivation is only in part to not be overwhelmed by her family. I know her family means a lot to her and I can't help that I want to impress her. Next card, baby.

"Caleb. Went to the Nats game with me. Has a wife, Ellen?"

"Eileen."

"Two kids. Holly and Ashton. Holly is six and has Caleb wrapped around her finger… Colton. Your brother who's closest in age to you. He's the one I'm scared of." Donna raised her brows at that. "He's a large football player, Donnatella. And you guys are the closest." Donna's smile changes as she looks down but I think it's a good change. My heart skips a beat.

By the time we touched down, I know every member of the Moss family pretty well. Donna even told me an embarrassing story about Colton but I think that was just because she wanted to lessen my nerves about him.

The baggage claim is already started when I met Donna there. I stopped by the mini coffee shop to get myself black coffee and her hot chocolate with extra whipped cream. She's standing by my suitcase and one of hers. I know she still has another large one coming. I can tell she's getting more nervous about it since people are dwindling and the stream of luggage is slowing down. I put my arm around her as we wait, trying to sooth her.

I don't think ten minutes has gone by before she's sucked down her hot chocolate in attempt to assuage her nerves and is now bouncing off one foot to another. Usually she's the patient, soothing one while I bubble up about things not happening quick enough, going to the worst case scenario.

"Josh…" She whines.

"It'll be fine Donnatella." I tell her in an even voice.

"Josh. This one is the one with all the presents!" Her voice goes pretty high. I'm worried she's about to cry. I pull her into a hug. And we wait. And wait. And… okay, my patience has worn thin.

I go over to talk to the baggage office, Donna trailing after me telling me to be polite. I wasn't. I may have mentioned that we work for the President. The suitcase had been put in the wrong place. They found it pretty quickly. I thanked the man and tipped the guy who actually found it.

I grabbed my suitcase, my backpack, and Donna's presents suitcase while she grabbed my briefcase, her purse, small bag, and her other suitcase. I wanted to laugh a little at us. We're certainly not light packers.

We found a taxi and I helped the driver load the bags and got in the back seat with Donna. I could feel her excitement. I'm sure she could feel my worries. As confident as I was about knowing their names, the Moss family was intimidating as hell.

The Moss family home is in a small suburban middle class neighborhood. It's across the street from a church. The house looks like it could use some repairs, a fresh coat of paint maybe but it's pretty damn quaint. I make a crack to Donna as we pull up, asking where the cattle is. She elbows me for that.

Before I can even wrestle the first suitcase out of the trunk, I hear a squeal and a bang and look over to see a teenage redhead running outside, an older woman traipsing after her yelling about a jacket in this cold. Donna's face lights up as she tackles her niece.

"I've missed you Auntie D!" The girl's glasses are slightly askew and holding on to Donna pretty tight.

"Let my sister breathe, Bailey." A pretty large brunette man meets us at the car. His facial hair is thick and graying a little bit.

"Duke!" Donna squeaks this time, un- entangling herself from Bailey, still holding her hand.

"Hey, kid." Duke ruffles Donna's hair. There's some arguing from inside the house and then several other mini humans are running toward Donna with real sized humans following them.

"We were going to be inside any second! You didn't need to-"

"Oh please. The kids have been bouncing off the walls, staring at the window waiting for you!" The blond woman who had come following Bailey with a jacket remarked. She looked like Donna but in fifteen years. It threw me a little bit and I didn't notice that Duke was now helping me unload the trunk. Dammit. Man points, Lyman.

"Oh, hey. I got it, thanks." I nodded at him, putting my hand forward. He eyed me up and down. For a second, I thought I was going to get the stay away from my little sister before I even went inside. But then he bear hugged me.

"Oh my god! Duke, please try not to suffocate Josh." I heard Donna call.

"Merry Christmas. Be good to my kid sister." He said, releasing me. I was definitely not breathing hard. I nodded at him.

Donna was now holding a four year old boy with darker complexion but the typical Moss freckles. I figure out that he's Ashton pretty quickly. Ashton and Holly are the only ones with darker skin- their mother Eileen being half black. I had hesitated to ask Donna the question but I was wondering just how open minded everyone was. Apparently only their grandfather on Eddie's side ever said or had a problem with it. Eddie was pretty quick to rebuke his father. Donna told me the story about her dad calling his own father out with a look in her eyes. She was definitely a daddy's girl. I shook off the nerves that brought on. I got along just fine with Eddie.

I know Eddie is her step father but he's been more of a real dad than Donna's biological father. Kath and Donna's father divorced when she was seven. He had stuck around and attempted to co parent for the first year or so but he wasn't willing to get along with Kath well enough to be a real partner for her. So Donna's mom raised her six children on her own. Lisa moved back home to help her mom- taking classes at the community college rather than the university- when she was twenty. Rebecca had been seventeen and helped as well. The three boys were all in middle school and apparently nightmares at the time. When Donna was ten, Kath and Eddie made it official. They had been friends for years. Donna thinks he always harbored feelings for her. From then on, Eddie filled any holes that had been left when her biological father left. Donna calls Eddie dad and her father Harry.

The crowd started to make their way inside, the adults automatically going to tend to one child or another about wiping off the snow off their boots or taking their jackets off. Donna was still holding Ashton. The thought of Donna as a mother taunted me but I was quickly wrapped into things as Kath emerged from the kitchen. She kissed her daughter then turned to me.

"Joshua! Get over here. I was wondering when you were going to grace us with your presence for the past two years now!" I laugh and hug her. Kath is the mother in law any man would want. I remember Donna telling me her mom scared the hell out of Doctor Freeride. That puffed up my chest a bit. Kath is the only one I'm not shaking in my boots over.

"Alright, I know my family is a little much but I'm your partner this week. My boys do anything impolite you come straight to me! Anyways… this is Rebecca, my third child, she's married to Matt over there. You met Bailey, their daughter. She's the one who will be trying to convince Donna to move back to Wisconsin for her this week. Caleb is the one trying to sneak into the kitchen right now…"

"Sorry mom!" Caleb yelled. I was surprised he could hear her over the noise. There was a lot going on with all the kids and adults plus Donna's arrival sent several of the kids into "I love Aunt Donna more" fights. Which made me want to get in on that debate as well. I knew I'd win.

"Caleb is married to our lovely Eileen. Eileen, this is Josh." Kath tapped a woman with curly brown hair on the shoulder.

"Nice to meet ya! Good luck with this brigade this week. I almost ran screaming my first time." Eileen told me. Kath laughed at this so I figured it was safe to.

"Holly and Ashton- the ones attempting to tear Donna in half over there- are her kids." Kath said. Eileen whipped around, looking determined to take care of that. I watched Donna smile and shake her head, probably saying she didn't mind.

"Isiah is over there trying to show my husband the finer points of a Playstation." Kath gestures to the kitchen. "He's one of Duke's. Julia's right there by her mom, Nancy. Jojo is Julia's doppelganger but she's not feeling very well so she's upstairs. Max is the little guy over there." A drooling but happy toddler bounced in a playpen. I don't know if I've ever felt the paternal urge or anything like that before but he was so adorable I nearly leant down to scoop him up.

"Lisa and Colton- my oldest and youngest, next to Donna- are not here yet. But you'll know when they are once the noise level dramatically increases in a few hours." I didn't see how it could get much louder than right now. Then I felt a yank on my jeans. I look down to find Holly.

"Who are you?" Holly said, eyeing me up much like her Uncle Duke did. I was only slightly less scared. I knelt down to her level to introduce myself, offering her a hand shake.

"I'm Josh. Your Aunt Donna invited me. Does that sound okay to you?" I asked.

"Ohhhh, mommy told me Aunt Donna was bringing a boyfriend. I just thought he would be younger like her." Welp. Kids are brutally honest. Kath gasped. I tried to laugh it off but I was confused about why Eileen would say Donna was bring a boyfriend home.

"Hey! Josh!" Eddie was coming over to greet us now. "Good to see ya. Feeling better?" Eddie asked me about my health a lot- ever since the shooting. He works in the hospital billing department and according to Donna, thinks he's a pseudo doctor. I don't mind.

"Good! Thank you- you too, Kath, especially- for having me. My mom was going out of her mind with worry." I told them. Kath looked up from telling Holly something stern.

"Happy to have ya, I've been wondering when you and Donna were gonna come clean about this!"

"Daddy, what are you bothering Josh about?" Donna had joined this party. Great, now someone else can be confused with me!

"Relax, dear, your father was just saying we're happy you guys are finally together!" Kath exclaimed.

"WHAT!?" Donna and I exclaimed at the same moment. And the Moss household got very quiet.


	3. Day One Pt 2

Oh my god. This is worse than the time Josh came out of his office with my underwear that I'd dropped in front of a reporter. This is worse than the time I talked about a mission silo to a reporter. This is the single most embarrassing Josh related moment in my life. Why did I do this?

"... Are y'all not…" Rebecca spoke up first.

"What's going on?" Holly insisted.

"Aunt Donna and her boyfriend are upset." Julia very loudly whispered to Holly.

"I'm not her boyfriend!" Josh sounds panicky. My heart pinches for a second. Never mind that.

"Mom…" I said exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry honey! I just thought that when you called so suddenly that you too had finally come to a decision. Oh well, glad to have you Josh." And then my mother proceeded to sneak off to the kitchen. Leaving both Josh and I standing there with our mouths open.

"You're both going to swallow flies." Duke announces, laughing and breaking the tension. Everyone kinda goes their separate ways at this point. And I'm ready to strangle my mother. I know that look on her face. I don't think this was a misunderstanding at all.

"Oh, Josh. I'm so sorry. I don't know why they'd think-"

"Donna, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Just a wrong assumption." He replied, with a smile not quite reaching his eyes.

"Oh wait!" I hear my father yell from the couch. "Where's he gonna sleep then?" I blanche. My mother is sneaky woman. I see the traitor peak her head out the hall to reply.

"Oh, my. I didn't think about that." Yeah, okay, sure. "Well… we're kind of all packed to the brim… Well, I don't see why the plan has to change. You're adults! You can sleep in the same room."

"Mother! I cannot sleep in the same bed _with my boss_."

"It's fine, I can find a room somewhere. I saw a Best Western pretty close-" Josh is interrupted by my _father_ because of course! My family is INSANE.

"Oh, please. It's not like you haven't slept in the same bed before."

"Uh, sir, we haven-" Josh is cut off again, this time by my mother.

"Yes, you have. Mel told us about how she'd come over to find you all cuddled up the hospital." I turned bright red. I think even Josh was blushing! Joshua Lyman, Bartlet's Bulldog, was blushing. If I wasn't so horrified, I'd be enjoying that immensely.

"M-Mel? As in, as in my mother?" Josh stuttered.

"Yes, of course. We catch up every once in a while. Who do you think taught her Skype!" Josh bit his lips. Okay, time for Donna to save Josh from his mouth.

"Okay! Um, we'll just go get settled then." I took Josh's hand and pulled his stunned self up the stairs. My brothers had already taken care of our luggage. Thankfully, without Josh noticing. He surely would have insisted on doing it all himself- in one trip. Because he's an idiot boy.

"Donna!" Josh whispered panicked.

"It's fine! It'll be fine… We're just going to…" I scrambled for words. He sighed.

"You're right, We'll just… tell everyone we're not dating. It'll be perfectly normal and I'll just sleep on the floor. I will steal your blanket though in compensation for my chivalry."

"No, you're not going to sleep on the floor. Don't be ridiculous- with your back? Besides, you're the guest." I shrugged, pulling my suitcase on to the bed. I started putting things away to keep my mind off my mother's schemes and the idea of a barely clothed Josh in the bed that I slept in as a teenager.

"Donna, my back'll be fine. And if I wasn't here, you'd be perfectly fine snuggling up next to your JT poster." He grinned at me, gesturing at the bulletin board that had a variety of photos and magazine clippings. One of those being of Justin Timberlake. I punched his shoulder lightly. _Has Josh been going back to the gym lately? His bicep..._

"Oh! Wait, I think we have an air mattress up in the attic. I'll go check!" I told him, skirting around him to go find my mother.

I pause by Max's play pen, making goochie goo noises. He laughs so hard falls on his butt. I love that little guy. I manage to get to the kitchen being stopped by only two of my family members.

"Mom." I open with so she knows she's in trouble.

"Donnatella." she doesn't even bother to look up.

"Mooom, how could you? You know Josh isn't… I mean, we aren't…" I stumble over my words.

"Honey, that boy is so head over heels for you. You haven't stopped gushing about him from day one. What you told me last year was not the world rocking revelation. It's not my fault for wanting to move the process along a little quicker. I saw an opportunity!" She replied, not skipping a beat.

"Is everyone in on this?!" I say exasperated.

"Oh, no. Just me and Eileen."

"The two of you! Schemers!" I try to sound annoyed but the idea of Eileen and my mother huddled together in the kitchen, snickering about Josh and I is kind of cute. "Anyways, don't we have an air mattress up in the attic?" I get back on topic.

"Oh, come on, Donna! Live a little, sleep with him." My mother urges then pauses. "Um, you know what I meant. I'd never encourage you… that… in our house. At least I don't want to know about… that." Finally Kath is a little rattled! Victory! Bring me the finest muffins- god dammit, I need to get away more from Josh. ...Okay, maybe not.

"Mom, where's the air mattress?"

"Oh, it's upstairs but first of all, good luck finding it in all that crap. And second, last time your Uncle Paulie was here I'm pretty sure he popped the thing."

"Why wouldn't you throw it out- oh, whatever. The floor it is!"

"Don't be ridiculous. If you can find it, bring it to me and I'll sew the patch up." I kissed my mother on the cheek before making my journey to the attic.

Once I've found it, I put in my parent's room for her to take care of later. She's the queen of sewing fixes. I remember being embarrassed about my patched together hand me downs when I was younger but now I think about that kind of thing fondly.

Josh is on the phone when I get back in the room. I can tell that it's his mom so I don't berate him for taking a work call. I know that it'll happen probably in the next few hours but he's abiding my holiday rules so far.

"I'll tell her. Okay, ya. Love you too." He hangs up the phone. "No luck with the air mattress?"

"Oh yeah actually. But it has a hole so my mom is gonna sew it up and we should be good by tonight!"

"Are you going to fight with me about who's taking the air mattress? Because I can tell you you're not gonna win that one, Donnatella." He smirks.

"Fine! But I don't want to hear one peep about your sore back tomorrow."

"Or maybe I'm just trying to get a back rub out of it." He winks and I think my stomach falls to the basement. He laughs at my expression so I punch him lightly again to which he feigns a grave injury and collapses on the bed, for some reason pulling me with him. "Payback, Donna." Before I fully register what he says, he's tickling me. Because apparently we're six!

"Hey! Tickle fight!" Julia and Holly apparently had been sent to fetch us because they jump on the bed excitedly. In the moment that Josh is distracted, I get the upper hand and go for tickling his feet. I know his weaknesses.

"Ewwww, Aunt Donna, why are you touching boy foot?" Holly asks. Josh and I erupt in laughter. By the time we're both standing, I'm in tears and he's clutching his stomach.

"Let's goooo! It's time! It's time!" Julia begs, grabbing both Josh and I's hands, taking us from the room.

"What is it time for?" Josh asks.

"Dessert!" Holly squealed.

"On the night everyone arrives, we do dessert first. It is a very exciting time." I explain for Josh. He nods, grinning. He loves his sweets.

Downstairs is hectic, as usual. Nancy is running around trying to catch Max in his diaper to put clothes on him. Matt is wrestling with Isiah, Ashton, and Holly (as she runs over and pounces). Duke and Caleb are arguing about hockey. Eileen has been trapped by my father who I'm sure is lecturing her about an inane fact about World War I. I love them so much. To my left, I look over at Josh. It hits me in that moment. Again. I love him. Having him here is as lovely as it is excruciating because I don't think he'll ever be here the way I want him to be.

"Excuse me!" My mom announces to the sea of family. About half of them she manages to get the attention of. That's when Duke steps in.

"Hey! Listen to your grandmother!" His booming voice makes Josh jump a little. I hide my giggle unsuccessfully. He sends my a sideways glare. It just makes it worse.

"Thank you, my favorite child."

"Hey!" Caleb, Rebecca, and I exclaim but my mother waves us off.

"Now if you are above the age of eighteen grab the plates and set up the dining room. No sneaking! However! If you're one of my routy grandkids, wash your hands please!" With our marching orders, everyone sets into motion. I gesture for Josh to help in the kitchen, he nods and follows my mother. I grab Ashton and bring him into the hall bathroom to help him wash his hands. Bailey has Holly and Caleb has Ashton. The rest of the adults are helping with set up. And most definitely sneaking sweets.

I make my way into the loud dining room and settle Ashton in next to his mom. I notice that my mother has steered Josh away from Duke and Caleb and sat him next to her. Smart mom. I stop to give Jojo a kiss on the cheek. I was sad to hear she wasn't feeling well. Poor girl gets really bad headaches too often for a ten year old. I take the place to the right of Josh, left of Bailey. They both smile when I sit down. I think my heart is goo.

"Alright, who's turn is it to say grace?" My father asks.

"Uncle Caleb's!" Bailey asserts. She has a memory that reminds me of President Bartlet sometimes, pulling out info in their big brains.

"Oh, geez. I mean, it's Josh's first time here! He should do it." Caleb attempts to shirk it off. I roll my eyes as Duke emphatically agrees.

"Josh is Jewish. Besides, just because you're bad at forming words out your mouth doesn't mean-" My mom cuts me off. Caleb sticks his tongue out. I'm pretty sure Eileen reaches over to pinch him.

"Children, actual children. My children never grew up." My mother shakes her head.

"You love us!" Duke practically yells.

"Caleb. Do the honors please. I can't put up with you all another minute without some sugar." My father tries to deliver this deadpan but he cracks a smile when he looks at mom.

"Bless us our lord and these your gifts-"

"Thy!" Julia corrects.

" _Thy_ gifts which we are about to receive…" At this Josh leans over to say he thought gifts were only given on one day. I whisper "Christian thing…" I imagine other religions refer to meal things as gifts as well in their blessings but Josh's family didn't really participate in the religious aspect of their Judaism. Toby calls him a Couch Jew. I'm not sure what it means.

"AAAAAmen! How's that for words, Donnatella?" Caleb finishes. Eileen pinches him again.

"Lovely, Caleb. How lovely." My mother admonishes him. He grins and breaks into the apple pie. Everyone takes that as their cue to dig in. I fight my way for one of the desserts I like and then I fight for the brownies I can see Josh eyeing. He didn't grow up with a big family. You gotta fight for the food you want. He rolls his eyes and mutters a thank you when I do it though.

The desserts are amazing but I am actually very excited for dinner. My mother made sweet potato gnocchi and I am dying for it. Josh laughs at my face when Caleb and Isiah (recruited by my mother to help with the dinner dishes) bring in the food. He knows how much I love sweet potatoes.

The discussion during dinner is lively and believe it or not, Josh is relatively quiet but seems to be keeping up just fine. Him and my dad talk philosophy stuff for a bit. Everyone avoids the topic of politics. It's not that my family is super conservative- it's just they don't think political talk is polite. Especially at the dinner table. I've had to explain this to Josh several times. He doesn't understand why they don't ask me more about my work at The White House. I don't bother to tell him they probably don't know that I even touch anything like policy.

The phone started to ring when everyone seemed to be finishing up seconds. My mother shot up to get it. I suspected it was Colton or Lisa so I listen to her phone call.

"Hi Eva! Oh, great. We're so excited to see you. We'll make you some plates and have them in the fridge for when you get here. Tell the babies Grandma loves them! Merry Christmas to you too Eva." My mother comes back in with a grin on her face.

"Good news everyone! Colton's plane just landed! They should be here in an hour or so!" My mom announced. In response, there were several cheers.

"I'm gonna hold Ollie first!" Holly yelled to which Jojo and Bailey both had problems with. Nancy deescalated the situation with the practiced strategy of a mom with four rambunctious kids.

"Okay, now, kiddos. Everyone has to be in pj's, teeth brushed and everything before Uncle Cole and Aunt Eva get here or no one will be kissing any babies. Then once you've said hello, it's right to bed!" Rebecca told all the kids. Nancy and Eileen nodded along.

"Alright, Josh and Donna y'all are on dish duty tonight. Everyone else- do something helpful!" We all were set off on our marching orders once again. Adults and the older kids carried their plates into the kitchen while Josh and I collected the little ones' plates and some of the serving dishes.

Ten minutes later and Josh and I had the dishes down to a science. There was a lot of them but we make a hell of a team. Upstairs I'm pretty sure there were a few tantrums going on and downstairs in the basement my dad and Caleb and Nancy were all arguing about hockey… again. I was just glad Duke was on kid bath duty so he wasn't involved in that heated _discussion_.

Josh and I completed our work in relative silence. It wasn't awkward but it wasn't the normal comfortable silences we have when we usually worked on a task. Josh seemed a little on edge but he had his figuring it out face on so I decided to let him bring up whatever it is.

By the time kids with wet hair and pajamas were making their way downstairs, Josh and I were done and were now putting away what was clearly the dishes from lunch.

"Are you… having an okay time?" I ask him, wringing my hands on the dish towel.

"Of course! Watching you with your family is really nice… Well honestly, you're not super different from when you're with Toby and CJ and Sam and I but…" He trails off. I can tell he has something to say but I decide I'm not sure if I want to hear so I don't push. "And all the kiddos are adorable. Also all very opinionated."

"Moss family charm." I smile.

"Oh, wow. You guys got that done fast. Nancy and I were in here for forever last night!" Duke walks into the room.

"We have a system." Josh boasts. I can see him getting more comfortable. His comfort with family is… turning me on. It's ridiculous and maybe a little fucked up but none of the other men I've brought home have been able to be anything but anxious or defensive when meeting my family.

"Yeah, yeah. Just wait til y'all have kids. Those _systems_ will go out the window." Duke lets us know. I could kill him!

"We're not togeth-"

"I know, I know. I'm just razzing ya kiddo." Duke ruffles my hair. I notice Josh's change in expression behind Duke but I figured he'd rather tell me what he's thinking not in front of my Hulk sized brother.

A little while later, I'm on the couch with Josh sitting on the armrest next to me while Ashton is passed out in my lap. Holly, of course, is the most awake of everyone. She's bouncing off the walls in excitement about the baby. Colton and Eva had Olliver three months ago and a lot of the family haven't gotten the chance to meet him yet. So far it's just me and my parents and Lisa and Brody.

I can't blame Holly for her excitement because I'm pretty darn excited too. Colton is my counterpart in this family. He's the closest in age to me and was the only one who really spent time with my growing up. Not in a mean way- it's just the others were older and cooler. I was the surprise baby. Colton was five when they had me- he had been the last intentional kid. I know a lot of kids are separated by that age gap but Lisa, Rebecca, Duke and Caleb are all very close in age.

I'm eager for Colton and Josh to see each other again. When Josh drove me up to Pennsylvania for Emmie's birth a few years ago, Colton was impressed. Colt was the first one I told about my feelings for Josh and he was apprehensive, to say the least. I couldn't blame him. Josh is older than me and my boss. But I think Colton understood Josh better once he drove several hours to them just to make sure I was safe.

"They're here!" My mother announced, seeing the taxi's lights before the rest of us. With that, I wanted to hop out and run out there but with Ashton sitting in my lap asleep I couldn't.

"Here, I got him." Josh scooted over to where Ashton's legs were and he peeled up Ashton off my lap into his arms and I just sat there gobsmacked. Joshua Lyman is not what you'd ascribe the word gentle to. Yet that was what I just witnessed. My heart needed to calm the fuck down.

"Your brother…" Josh whispered, raising his eyebrows. I shot into motion. Everyone was hugging outside and it was the best little picture. Aside from the one inside where my father sat in his pj's reading a book and across the room where Josh sat cradling my sleeping nephew.

"Donna!" Colton exclaimed. I ran into his arms. "Merry Christmas, sis!"

"Hey- it's cold as hell. Let's get inside!" Caleb announced. Several of the kiddos immediately picked up on his word choice.

"Oh. My. God." Rebecca was the first one in the living room and I wasn't sure what her exclamation was about. "That is the cutest site I've ever seen." I knew then she was talking about Josh and Ashton. I think Josh was blushing a little bit.

"Donna, Donna. You have got to put a ring on that man's finger." Eileen commented. Josh sputtered for a minute as everyone laughed. I stood in horror. I then looked over to see Colton's eyes narrow.

"We're gonna need to talk." Colton whispered to me. Yep, still frozen.


End file.
